New Ground
by jessmerrick
Summary: There are times she doesn't hurt any more.


Notes: This is a one-off with the potential to be a series. Let me know what you think. Do you want to see more, about the same character or about the others? Perhaps both? Do you want to see how their lives turn out – a series like this about each of them?

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She glanced up at the clock and saw that she had been working for three hours straight and that she hadn't eaten for twice as long. Shaking her head, she stood up, abandoning her paperwork and heading through the large living room and into the kitchen.

She raided the fridge, finding cheese and butter, and grabbed the last bread roll out of the breadbin, deciding to make herself a sandwich. Once she had made it, cleared everything away and taken a large bite, she put on the kettle, finding she had a strange craving for a drink she absolutely hated. Resting her hand on her swollen stomach, she smiled to herself and shook her head.

That morning she had woken up to the sound of her husband singing in the shower, in their en-suite bathroom. He had made pancakes for breakfast and then they had hurried off to meet her younger sister, who apparently had some important news.

They had arrived at the café in the local mall a few minutes early, but Jessica had already been waiting, holding hands and talking with her boyfriend, Jack.

Shelby and Scott had sat down at the table, and Jess had extended her hand, showing off a large diamond ring. She had gasped, her little sister was getting married! Now 21 years old, Jessica was studying to be a counselor, and Shelby couldn't be more proud.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt hands slide around her waist. She grinned as Scott kissed her neck and she moved away, making herself a cup of herbal tea. "I hope you're not working too hard, Shelby," he warned her, taking a seat at the dining table. "We don't want to take any risks."

"You worry too much," she said, sitting down opposite him, and sipping her tea. "Can you believe my little sister is getting married?"

"Actually," Scott nodded, "I can. Jack really does care about her a lot. I can tell. I'm glad for her, that she can have a normal life with a nice guy like him. Mrs. Jessica Reynolds, has kind of a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"You know I rarely ever think of Horizon or my teenage years these days?" Shelby sighed. "It can be weeks, even months. When I was there I never imagined that it could happen. I thought it would always be right there, in my mind, haunting me. But it isn't. I'm twenty-four and it's just not there, not constantly. I never thought I would ever be able to be this happy. I've never been this happy, not even when I was a little kid and there was nothing wrong."

"I know what you mean," he admitted. "I felt the same way. And I'm so glad that we ended up together."

"Me too," she smiled. "Me too."

"Just me and you," Scott said, and then looked through the glass table at her stomach. "Well, for now anyway. I reckon you have twins in there, a boy and a girl. You're getting rather massive."

There was silence for a minute, and he could tell there was now something troubling her. "Sometimes I wonder if I'll make a good mother. I may have a normal-ish life now, a great job helping people, but I've seen so much, been through so much…I've been screwed up by my mother, and my step-father," she paused. "I hate to think of our child…children going through what we did."

"It's not going to happen, Shel," he promised her, reaching out and taking hold of her hand. "We're not our parents. And this is frightening…it's all new ground. But you're going to be an excellent mother, and I'm going to be a great dad."

"You are," she agreed. "I was thinking we should name a girl Sophie Michelle. For all the trouble I gave Becker, I have to admit, she's always been there for me when I needed her, always been so kind to me. I'm lucky to have someone in my life like her, like the mother I never had."

"I think she would like that," he nodded, he'd been thinking the same but about Peter. "I was thinking our son could be called Peter. It's a good name."

"We should visit them soon," she said, getting up. "It's been way too long." He joined her, pulling her in to a hug. "Katherine keeps calling and bugging me about it, in fact. She's trying to get The Cliffhangers back together."

They'd made it through, together, and now their lives were turning out to be everything they'd dreamed of. They knew others who hadn't been so lucky, they had lost their friends along the way, they were definitely the lucky ones. They were here, they were alive, and they were finally average.

Shelby Barringer was about to face one of the most frightening challenges of her live – becoming a mother, but with Scott at her side, she was confident she could do it. For eight years now, they had been together, and neither one could think of anywhere they'd rather be.


End file.
